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bouncycastle — security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVAdvisory ID: DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891

In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.86, BLS12_381BasicScheme.keyValidate, and so BLSPublicKeyParameters and every BasicScheme, MessageAugmentation and ProofOfPossession verify and aggregateVerify that gate on it, accepted a public key built on a foreign ECCurve that merely shares BLS12-381's field characteristic. The prime-order subgroup check trusts a point's own curve to name its cofactor, since ECPoint.satisfiesOrder returns true outright when the curve's cofactor is one, so a point on a curve with a different equation and a cofactor forged to one passed keyValidate despite not being a G1 point at all. In BC's pairing implementation such a point contributes the identity in the target group, so an aggregate signature verified against a set of public keys including it is accepted even though it contains no signature for that key and message pair, admitting a phantom signer. keyValidate now first confirms that the point's curve carries exactly the canonical G1 field, equation, order and cofactor before any subgroup check. The issue is reachable only where an application constructs an ECPoint on an explicit, non-canonical curve and accepts it as an authority-bearing key; the standard 48-byte compressed-point decoder always supplies the canonical curve and was never affected.

Products
bouncycastle
Affected versions
1.72-2, 1.77-1, 1.80-1, 1.80-2, 1.80-3, 1.86-1
Fixed versions
1.86-1
CVEs
CVE-2026-71891
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
28 Oct 2026, 03:40 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891

core-osv · Original source

Published 3 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC

In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.86, BLS12_381BasicScheme.keyValidate, and so BLSPublicKeyParameters and every BasicScheme, MessageAugmentation and ProofOfPossession verify and aggregateVerify that gate on it, accepted a public key built on a foreign ECCurve that merely shares BLS12-381's field characteristic. The prime-order subgroup check trusts a point's own curve to name its cofactor, since ECPoint.satisfiesOrder returns true outright when the curve's cofactor is one, so a point on a curve with a different equation and a cofactor forged to one passed keyValidate despite not being a G1 point at all. In BC's pairing implementation such a point contributes the identity in the target group, so an aggregate signature verified against a set of public keys including it is accepted even though it contains no signature for that key and message pair, admitting a phantom signer. keyValidate now first confirms that the point's curve carries exactly the canonical G1 field, equation, order and cofactor before any subgroup check. The issue is reachable only where an application constructs an ECPoint on an explicit, non-canonical curve and accepts it as an authority-bearing key; the standard 48-byte compressed-point decoder always supplies the canonical curve and was never affected.

osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891

bouncycastle

Fixed versions: Not specified

bouncycastle

Fixed versions: Not specified

bouncycastle

Fixed versions: 1.86-1

Complete source record
{
  "id": "aa6940c1427bf874485b87a606316ea7f06644aad2d6dc4745567f119383eaa1",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891",
    "summary": "In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.86, BLS12_381BasicScheme.keyValidate, and so BLSPublicKeyParameters and every BasicScheme, MessageAugmentation and ProofOfPossession verify and aggregateVerify that gate on it, accepted a public key built on a foreign ECCurve that merely shares BLS12-381's field characteristic. The prime-order subgroup check trusts a point's own curve to name its cofactor, since ECPoint.satisfiesOrder returns true outright when the curve's cofactor is one, so a point on a curve with a different equation and a cofactor forged to one passed keyValidate despite not being a G1 point at all. In BC's pairing implementation such a point contributes the identity in the target group, so an aggregate signature verified against a set of public keys including it is accepted even though it contains no signature for that key and message pair, admitting a phantom signer. keyValidate now first confirms that the point's curve carries exactly the canonical G1 field, equation, order and cofactor before any subgroup check. The issue is reachable only where an application constructs an ECPoint on an explicit, non-canonical curve and accepts it as an authority-bearing key; the standard 48-byte compressed-point decoder always supplies the canonical curve and was never affected.",
    "evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "bouncycastle",
          "evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [],
        "affected_versions": [
          {
            "value": "1.72-2",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
          },
          {
            "value": "1.77-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
          },
          {
            "value": "1.80-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
          },
          {
            "value": "1.80-2",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
          },
          {
            "value": "1.80-3",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
          },
          {
            "value": "1.86-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "bouncycastle",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [],
        "affected_versions": [
          {
            "value": "1.80-3",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/versions"
          },
          {
            "value": "1.86-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/versions"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "bouncycastle",
          "evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "1.86-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": [
          {
            "value": "1.80-3",
            "evidence": "/affected/2/versions"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891",
      "aliases": [
        "DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V4",
          "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Amber"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "bouncycastle",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/bouncycastle?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:12"
          },
          "versions": [
            "1.72-2",
            "1.77-1",
            "1.80-1",
            "1.80-2",
            "1.80-3",
            "1.86-1"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "bouncycastle",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/bouncycastle?arch=source&distro=trixie",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:13"
          },
          "versions": [
            "1.80-3",
            "1.86-1"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "1.86-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "bouncycastle",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/bouncycastle?arch=source&distro=forky",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:14"
          },
          "versions": [
            "1.80-3"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71891.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-07T09:47:32.607135814Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "upstream": [
        "CVE-2026-71891"
      ],
      "references": [
        "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-71891"
      ]
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-71891",
        "evidence": "/upstream"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 94657,
  "published_at": "2026-10-03T09:17:05.763+00:00"
}